Israel holds off on going to ground.

Israel holds off on going to ground.

No Offense Taken—Yet

The Washington Post,Wall Street Journal's world-wide newsbox, andLos Angeles Timesall lead with the Israeli Cabinet calling up between 15,000 and 30,000 reservists but for now rejecting the military's apparent recommendation for a wider ground offensive. "We are recruiting reserve troops so that, if need be, we will be able to exercise the necessary force," said Israel's defense minister. The New York Times, for the first time,goes inside with its war update. Instead, the paper's lead points out that Hezbollah and its chief, Hassan Nasrallah, have become the toast of the Mideast. Meanwhile, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, which initially had criticized Hezbollah, are now at least publicly "scrambling to distance themselves from Washington." As the Times notes, al-Qaida is also trying to ride the wave—and get some airtime—with a new video from No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahiri. USA Todayleads with home-builders doling out incentives as sales have slipped.

Another roughly 100 rockets hit Israel again yesterday, though there were no serious injuries. Israel also continued airstrikes in Lebanon, with a few people reported killed, including a driver from one aid convoy and a police officer. Most of the strikes were concentrated near the southern border.

The NYT goes inside with a sergeant telling investigators that soldiers in his unit did indeed murder three Iraqi detainees in May. Lawyers for the soldiers said the GIs were given orders on the mission to "kill all military-age men" they encountered. Meanwhile, the colonel who gave the purported order has reportedly refused to testify. As the Times notes, "It is very rare for any commanding officer to refuse to testify."

Most of the papers front initial tests showing that Floyd Landis, the little-heralded American winner of the Tour de France, had abnormally high amounts of testosterone. Landis made his big move—climbing from 11th to third—the same day he was tested. But more tests are coming, and it's possible the first one was a false positive.

The Post says inside that House and Senate leaders have agreed on "vastly scaled-back versions" of earlier congressional ethics proposals. Said the president of the lobbyists' lobby, "I'm happy where things are right now."

*Correction, July 28:This article cited an U.N. observer's e-mail that Hezbollah was firing next to a U.N. base and, according to the e-mail, using it as a "shield." In fact, the e-mail did not specifically refer to Hezbollah using the base a "shield." A former U.N. commander who read the e-mail made the reference. Click here to return to the corrected sentence.